1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a binder, and more particularly to an improvement in a binder capable of applying binding forces by folding down binding legs along a base.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a file referred to as a flat file has a base, passages for binding legs, and pressing members. The base is in the shape of a thin strip extending like a plate. The passages are composed of two holes arranged in the longitudinal direction in the base. The pressing members are formed on the side of an upper surface of the base. Each of the pressing members can be slid between a position for opening a corresponding one of the passages and a position for closing the passage. This binder is designed such that binding forces are applied to the binding legs maintained in a folded-down posture when the pressing members are moved away from each other and that each of the binding legs can be drawn out of a corresponding one of the passages when the pressing members are moved toward each other.
However, such a binder is inconvenient in that a binding operation cannot be performed easily only by two fingers of one hand such as a thumb and an index finger, for example, after binding legs have been inserted through passages formed in a base. This results from the fact that pressing members must be moved away from each other when applying binding forces to the binding legs.
The present invention has been made in an attempt to eliminate the aforementioned inconvenience. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a binder suited to adopt a design in which operational forces are applied in one direction.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides a binder capable of applying binding forces to binding legs that have been inserted through passages formed in a base extending in the longitudinal direction with a construction wherein the base has a plurality of base-forming members that are arranged relatively movably along the longitudinal direction and that can form the passages, wherein each of the base-forming members has at least one operating portion that moves when the base-forming members are moved relative to each other, and wherein it becomes possible to press or release each of the binding legs by operating the operating portion in a predetermined manner. Such a construction makes it possible to press and release the binding legs by an approaching or pinching operation, for instance, in the case where two operating portions are formed in the longitudinal direction in each of the base-forming members. This makes it possible not only to perform binding and releasing operations easily and smoothly while ensuring that operational forces are applied in one direction during each operation, but also to apply operational forces from fingertips to the operating portions.
Further, the present invention can provide a binder capable of applying binding forces to binding legs that have been inserted through passages formed in a base extending in the longitudinal direction with a construction wherein the base has a plurality of base-forming members that are arranged relatively movably along the longitudinal direction and that can form the passages, wherein each of the base-forming members has first and second operating portions that move when the base-forming members are moved relative to each other, wherein the second operating portions move away from each other and press the binding legs onto their binding positions when the first operating portions are moved toward each other, and wherein the binding legs are released and the first operating portions move away from each other when the second operating portions are moved toward each other. In the case where such a construction is adopted, when the first or second operating portions are moved toward each other, the second or first operating portions are moved away from each other. Therefore, the binding legs can always be pressed and released by moving the corresponding operating portions toward each other. This also makes it possible to achieve simplification of operations while ensuring that operational forces are applied in one direction during each operation.
The present invention preferably adopts a construction wherein the base-forming members are common in shape and wherein the base is formed by combining the base-forming members. Such a construction makes it possible to achieve structural simplification and reduction in cost by reducing the number of types of parts constituting the base.